Lionel Messi names 5 contenders, 2 favourites for 2022 World Cup glory

The teams with the best chances of winning the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year, according to Lionel Messi, are the record-holders Brazil and the defending champions France.

However, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who will represent Argentina at his fifth World Cup, hasn’t completely ruled out teams like Germany, England, or Spain.

“There are big teams like Brazil, Germany, France, England, Spain, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some,” Messi told DirecTV. “But if I have to keep one or two, today I think Brazil and France are the two big candidates for this World Cup.”

The 35-year-old continued by saying that continuity benefits both the Selecao and Les Bleus.

“They’ve had the same group [of players] for a long time, working well,” he said.

“France, aside from the last Euros when they were eliminated [in the last 16] and did badly, they have some impressive players. They have a clear idea and the same coach [Didier Deschamps]. Brazil is similar [under Tite].”

Argentina, which entered the World Cup after winning the Copa America last year and ending a 28-year trophy drought, is an unbeaten team in 35 games. Messi omitted them presumably on purpose.

Brazil is currently ranked first in the world according to the official FIFA rankings, followed by Belgium, Argentina, and France. With no wins in their last six games, England, who is one spot lower in fifth, is having a terrible run of luck. Spain is in sixth.

One of Messi’s teams to watch is Germany, but they are only the world’s 11th-ranked team according to FIFA, and they unusually exited Euro 2020 in the first round after also failing to advance past the group stage at the most recent World Cup in 2018.